New York Giants New Star Player Tight Starting Contemplating For Retirement Year Approaching…

The New York Giants traded for former Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller last March. Waller had been on a tear with the Raiders before being traded, but the injury bug began to slow him down.

Waller has missed a total of 19 games in the past three seasons, and the result of the missed games has led to him contemplating retirement. Waller finished the 2023 season with 52 receptions, 552 yards, and one touchdown in 12 games.

Waller re-aggravated his ongoing hamstring issue in Week 8, and it landed him on injured reserve. The same hamstring issue popped up in the 2022 season, also resulting in an injured reserved stint.

The same injury popping up can often take a big mental toll on a player, and it has led to Waller thinking about stepping away from the game. Waller spoke to Vic Tafur of The Athletic about the possibility that he might step away from the Giants and the game of football.

“I have to make a decision at some point,” Waller said. “You have to be 100 percent bought in, for the grind. And I have to make sure I am bringing that to the table, or it’s a disservice to the guys I am suiting up with. I also want to give the team time, where whichever way I go, they can prepare for next season… It’s a little bit of a difficult decision, but here we are.”

Waller also indicated that he hopes to make this decision before the 2024 NFL Draft begins, which is on April 25. “That would be ideal, but I also don’t want to put that on myself,” Waller said. “It’s gotta be before summer break, for sure.”

It is strange to think that Waller, who once put together back-to-back 1,000-plus yards seasons, would be stepping away, but he has to think about his health. Whatever hamstring issues he still has appear to not be going away.

Waller may have been far more prolific on the pass-catching side of things in the past, but he has still been plenty productive even with his injury issues. Should he decide to return for what would be his ninth season, he may need to look into a new approach to get him through his first full season since 2020.

The Giants currently have a few tight ends options behind Waller, such as Daniel Bellinger, Chris Manhertz, Jack Stoll and Tyree Jackson. None have had production anywhere near Waller, though.

The New York Giants have several decisions to make in the upcoming draft, the biggest of which is whether to draft a quarterback and, if so, where and who.

In some opinions, the only way for the Giants to get a top quarterback prospect is to trade up. Some also feel the Giants could trade down and add draft picks to their haul. And then some believe that if the Giants stay at six, a top prospect will fall to them.

Not all of these options are great, and some have serious pitfalls. But one stands out as the worst the team could make: trading up.

To explain why, let’s go back and look at some history.

The 2019 NFL Draft was a weak draft for quarterbacks. Kyler Murray sat atop the class and would eventually be taken with the first overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals. After Murray, a bunch of guys had question marks, including Daniel Jones, whom the Giants selected sixth overall.

This quarterbacks draft class is much deeper this year than in 2019, but if you are the Giants, you must determine the value of taking a quarterback and where you do so.

Conventional wisdom is that all three of the consensus top quarterbacks in this draft will be off the board by the time New York is on the clock at six.

It can be argued that in 2019 if you had not gotten the top talent at quarterback, you might have been able to wait until the second round to get your guy.

Jones was not the top guy at his position back then, and to this day, there are still questions about his ability to be elite in the NFL.

With that lesson in the books, the Giants need to decide if they want to roll those dice again or select an elite prospect at the top of the list. People believe in positional value, but how far should that value extend?

Another reason selecting a quarterback in the early round might be the worst mistake the team could make is the need for immediate help. The Giants need upgrades at key positions and depth at others. Taking another quarterback instead of a player who could potentially improve this team right now is problematic.

Many believe that head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Scheon are on the hot seat after a disappointing season where they signed Jones to a brand new contract only to watch the team struggle. They may not have time to wait to improve this team, and there is nothing worse than drafting players who will help your successor reach levels you could not while waiting for that talent to be fully realized.

Instead, reinforcements at wide receiver, tight end, offensive line, defensive line, or linebacker could be better options on Days 1 and 2. Those players could make the difference between a 10-7 season or an 8-9 season.

The final reason is the thirst for the position. If by the time the Giants are on the clock at six, multiple quarterbacks are still on the board, making the pick even more valuable as teams behind them try to position themselves to grab one of the remaining quarterbacks. This could yield an even bigger return in draft capital, which can be used to fill even more needs if the Giants decide to trade down.

With a trade down, grabbing a quarterback would not sting as much or leave other positions unaddressed. It would also add more capital for the 2024 and possibly 2025 drafts, putting the Giants in a better position to attack the top picks if the team is all-in on grabbing the quarterback at the top of their big board.

Many believe a team should move heaven and earth to get a quarterback, but that is bad logic. The truth is that one should move heaven and earth to get a generational talent at quarterback, which does not come around daily. Just because someone is capable of starting does not mean they will offer the dynamics necessary to change the fortunes of an entire franchise.

The smarter play is to take advantage of market inefficiencies. In this case, quarterbacks are overvalued, which allows a team with the sixth pick to choose the top three talents because of the desires of other teams to reach for quarterbacks.

In short, sometimes it is better to zig when they zag.